Abstract

SOUSA, Raquel et al. Parietaria judaica pollen: Aerobiology and allergenicity. Rev Port Imunoalergologia [online]. 2014, vol.22, n.2, pp.81-92. ISSN 0871-9721.

Introduction: Parietaria judaica pollen is able to induce severe allergic symptoms, mainly due to its high pollen output and the long persistence in the atmosphere. Aim: We intended to study the aerobiology and allergenic proteins of Parietaria judaica pollen collected in an urban area of the Porto region. Methods: We adopted aerobiological and immunological techniques to study the annual airborne pollen concentrations from 2003 to 2012 and the immunoreactivity of P. judaica pollen extracts against 21 sensitized patient sera. Results: Parietaria spp. pollen is pre sent in the atmosphere of Porto all year long, representing 17% of the total pollen spectrum. The highest airborne pollen concentrations were mainly found from April-August. From the selected patients with pollen allergy, 34.2% showed sensitization to Parietaria spp. pollen extracts. Among these, 84.5% were only positive to Parietaria judaica and 8.5% to its counterpart Parietaria officinalis. The most prevalent protein bands of P. judaica pollen extracts when ted against allergic patient sera were those around 55 kDa, 36-30 kDa, 14 kDa and 12-11 kDa. An anti-Par j 1/Par j 2 immunoblot revealed two protein bands around 12 kDa and two possible glycoprotein bands of around 22 and 18 kDa were also showed in the P. judaica pollen extracts. Conclusions: Parietaria spp. is the most abundant pollen type in the atmosphere of Porto and its highest concentrations are found at the first sunlight hours. P. judaica in particular sensitizes a considerable fraction of pollen-sensitive individuals and several reactive protein bands were recognized by P. judaica sensitive IgE sera. This pollen appears to be an important source of weed -sensitization in this region.

Keywords : Aerobiological profile; allergens; Parietaria judaica; pollen; sensitization.

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